The Lion King: Demon Within
by Rinjapine
Summary: Before there was Scar, there was a lion called Taka. He was a Prince. He was a son. He was a brother. He was a husband. He was a father. He was many things, but only one thing will he be remembered for... For one day, he will be a killer. This is the story of how that once-innocent Prince became the Demon King Scar. This is HIS story.
1. Chapter 1: How It Began

The new morning light spilled across the landscape like molten fire, and cast an orange glow over the long streams of animals making their steady way across the plains. Every creature, from the smallest ant to the largest elephant had the same destination in the forefront of their minds: Pride Rock. Each heart was jubilant that day, for it was a day of celebration – the great Queen Uru had finally given the kingdom an heir, after so many years without.

As she lay on the ledge of Pride Rock, awaiting the arrival of her people and of her shamans, Uru looked down upon the life she had brought into the world. Two cubs – one a sunny gold, the other a sunset orange – shifted slightly in their sleep, and Uru smiled faintly. But her good humor was short-lived, tainted by the knowledge that she did not really love or want either of them. They had been born only to placate the animals of her kingdom, to honor her word to them; she had promised them a new heir to her throne, one to replace her long-missing firstborn, Prince Mega. She still held out hope that he yet lived, and would one day return to take his true place in the Circle as the next King of the PrideLands, but doubt had wormed its insidious way into even her aging heart, and sometimes in the dark of night, she admitted to herself that he was likely dead, and never coming back. Whatever had happened to him, he was gone, and there had been no choice left to her – she had taken a new mate, and had new cubs. It didn't matte that she didn't want to.

It was her duty as Queen.

The sun was hovering just over the horizon as two mandrills – the kingdom's shaman and his apprentice – arrived at Pride Rock amid much fanfare and cheering. Ancient Jara climbed up to where Uru lay with the aid of Mshauri, the female mandrill who would someday take over his position. "Don't see why the both of us were needed today," he whined, voice thin and reedy with extreme age, "One would do the trick just fine, and I'm too old for this."

The Queen raised a brow at him, slightly piqued at his disrespect, but she forgave him as the old family friend he was. "There are two children to be presented, so two shamans are needed," she explained quietly, eyes daring Jara to comment.

He frowned, looking at her twin sons. "But only the elder needs to be shown to his people. Can only have one King. Makes sense," he said, warily, but Uru narrowed her eyes at him.

"The old laws are unjust, and I will not abide by them any longer. Two sons were born, in the same litter. Why should one be favored over the other simply because he entered the world a minute or two before the other? They both were conceived the same instant, so both should have the same chance as the other." Uru looked down at the pair. If she had to do this… she wanted to do it right.

The old mandrill sighed. "Your Majesty, with all due respect—"

She cut him off. "Do you remember my uncle?"

He paused, his expression changing, softening. "Yes. Yes, I do." He looked down at the slumbering cubs, and nodded, saying even more quietly. "Yes. I remember." He didn't look at her as he asked, "What is your plan for them, then? There can only be one King."

Uru gave both boys a half-hearted lick, and then gazed out towards the horizon, where the sun was still steadily climbing upwards. "They will have their chance. Each of them. Time will show me who is the right choice. They will be the ones who decide who rules after I am gone."

"You do not fear civil war? That both will be unfit, or both will be perfect? How do you choose then, my Queen?"

Uru didn't look back at him. "If neither is worthy of my Crown, then neither shall rule. I will choose another in their place, a commoner if need be." Now she did look Jara's way. "And if both prove to be as fit to be King as the other – then I will split the kingdom and let each rule a piece as two new lands."

"And if one does not measure up, and possibly wishes to fight for what he thinks should be his?"

Uru's eyes hardened. "He will be allowed to stay here, _with_ his name, as the King's second, a trusted advisor and friend. There _will_ be a place for him, no matter what. It is my hope that will be enough to forestall any wars or battles between brothers." Her expression became bleak and pained. "But if it is not enough… the old ways will rule once more."

Jara nodded, looking contemplative. "A wise decision, Your Majesty. I hope both appreciate it, and honor it all their lives." He moved to stroke gently the tiny cubs in Uru's arms. "And so I shall do as you wish and command, and both shall be seen by your people this day."

He motioned over his apprentice – who had remained silent as her elders talked – and together they applied the sacred ointments to both cubs, smearing melon juices over their brows and sprinkling them with dust so that the plants and even the bones of the land itself would recognize their future ruler. Then each mandrill gently lifted a cub and walked to the tip of Pride Rock, raising the boys together, and showing them to the gathered animals and the sky above. The people bowed, one by one, falling to their knees before their new Princes, and a sharp breeze whipped around the cubs, ruffling their fur - heaven and earth approved of Queen Uru's choice.

Another Circle of Life had begun.

* * *

**Author's notes about this and following chapters:**  
This is a fanfiction I wrote (and previously posted on deviantArt; Username=Rinjapine) about the beginnings of Mufasa and his brother Scar (once called "Taka", as from the book "Tale of Two Brothers"). I just realized that this fanfiction draws on my fancomic on my deviantArt account. :S Which can't be posted HERE. Oops. Anyone who wants to read the backstory contained therein is welcome to, but you will need a dA account: gallery/24570275 The story there is not all-important to read - this story can still make sense standing alone - but it will help make better sense of all the events here.

Also, Chapter Six mentions events in a short fancomic I did over on deviantArt called "Young Heroes". You can read it there if you want, but you will need a dA account to be able to. Sorry about that! I can give you the basic gist though: while playing one day with Sarabi and Sarafina, Mufasa and Taka run into a three-legged African Wild Dog. Chase ensues, and the panicked run takes Mufasa and the dog over the side of the gorge. Mufasa manages to grab onto the cliffside, but can't pull himself up. Taka reaches down and grabs his paws, trying to help him. When his weight is too great for Taka, Mufasa tells Taka to let him go and save himself. Taka refuses. Luckily, Sarabi and Sarafina show up and manage to pull the both of them to safety. The whole comic was meant to put new emphasis on the gorge scene, and to give credence to how FAST Mufasa figures out what Scar is up to when he says "long live the King".

The Lion King is copyrighted to Disney. Derivative backstory is mine.


	2. Chapter 2: Lying, Cheating, So Deceiving

But all was not goodness and light on this joyous day, for the Queen's mate and consort, Ahadi, had taken one look at his newborn sons, and felt only disgust at the fact there were two of them. He knew that no matter what the Queen said to the contrary, the younger brother would always be doomed to live in his older brother's shadow. He would never be worthy of being King, because he _was_ the younger. It was fate. It was destiny. It was _how things worked in real life_.

So when Uru decreed that both sons would have en equal shot at the throne, Ahadi did not smile, or think her wise, or any such thing. He only curled a lip and held his silence, knowing to say anything would only fall on deaf ears. Everyone so loved to think their Queen was full of heart and mercy to so "spare" the younger boy the usual fate of such a one, but Ahadi knew better; jealousy and resentment would _always_ tear the brothers apart – royal brothers could _never_ be truly equal, no matter how much they wanted it to be so. The Prince-Consort had learned that the hard way. He could not forget the terrible betrayal of his own younger brother, or of the throne and Queen that brother stole. And he could not forgive it, or see any other future for his own younger boy. The fates would see to it that events happened exactly the same way as they had before – unless Ahadi stopped it before it could.

Ahadi would not have ever agreed to raising his sons as equals anyway, but the coloration of his younger son made that even more certain – yes, the younger had his father's eyes and would one day wear a mane as black, but his pelt… it was his mother's, as were his nose and claws. He had too much of Uru in him, and Ahadi knew that it would remind the other lion kingdoms of all that Uru had done and been during her long reign, and of all the blood she had shed; Uru was not just hated, not just feared – she was seen as evil incarnate by all other lions, and any lion who wore a dark pelt would be seen the same way. No dark King could ascend the throne if the PrideLands ever wished to renew contact with the other lion kingdoms. Thus, the second son of the Queen must be prevented from ever being "worthy" – indeed from ever proving himself of _any_ use whatsoever. He could not stay on, even as an advisor, for his advice would always be tainted, either by intent or by simple association with his mother. So even though Uru had decreed otherwise, Ahadi determined her wish was never to be; only the eldest child would one day rule.

Happiness _did_ suffuse Ahadi when Uru told him that _he_ was allowed to name the pair. He didn't ask why, he just jumped at the chance, and picked names he felt appropriate: Mufasa for the elder, Taka for the younger. "King" and "trash", respectively, although he played it off as "King" and "desire" for Uru's ears, since Taka did have double meanings. But "trash" was exactly what he meant. The Queen looked at him askance for his choices, but said nothing, as if she honestly didn't care – something the Prince-Consort worried about. He did not like the distance in her eyes or the boredom in her posture, for it made him think she cared nothing for her children. Indeed, as the days went by, her ennui seemed only to deepen. She refused to do much of anything, and ignored her cubs, even when they fed at her breast. It was if a deep depression had ensnared her. Yet… Ahadi did not mind her sudden loss of… life… all that much. If she lost the will to live, it would leave _him_ as the sole ruler of this land, as the Regent for his sons, and then he would not need subterfuge any longer. He could just outright declare Mufasa the only one who would be King one day.

Besides, she'd made it clear she didn't love him – or want to – anyway, so what would there be to mourn?

Filled with smiling anticipation, Ahadi went about his days, completely taking over Uru's former duties. He had been doing so ever since Uru's belly had become too much of a burden, and he continued to do so now as she nursed and cared for their sons during their first weeks and months of life. He was well-tolerated by the kingdom, and they even addressed him as their King – something that caused his ego to swell and his pride to grow. He felt that the people of the land were finally coming to accept him as their ruler – a more worthy animal than his mate, for she was only female. What was a Queen when compared to a King? And King he was, for the animals – like himself – knew only a male could truly protect the lands. Uru had done well, for a girl, but he could do so much _better_.

When Uru heard of this, though, she became angrier than Ahadi had ever seen her; it seemed she had come out of her self-imposed mental coma, and in a very violent way. Harsh words and veiled threats were directed his way, and she made it extremely clear that he was no King, just a Prince-Consort, specifically one which had little to no power within _her_ lands. He chafed at her rebuke, and hated her all the more for 'punishing' him for acting as he knew was his _real_ place. If only she was a tad bit smaller, or able to fight only half so well, he would have shown her how mistaken she was in treating him so. As it was, he still held some fear of her temper, and so he sullenly backed down to her. Time would come when he would be able to challenge her directly, but today was not that day.

The next morning after their fight, Uru resumed her duties and left Ahadi behind to watch the cubs. He resented this more than if she had struck him about – he was confined to the pride's cave like a misbehaving child, left to look over his twin sons as if he was some inferior lioness. Males did not watch the cubs! His father had never "watched the cubs"! This punishment stuck in his craw – and punished for what? For taking what was rightfully his by marriage? The kingdom knew he was its King, and it was only Uru who believed otherwise, the foolish old crone. Ahadi assumed that Uru would calm down soon enough – after she'd had time to truly think upon the subject and its ramifications and about how he really was the male of the land – but she did not. She left Ahadi alone with their sons for almost a week, only stopping by every so often to nurse the cubs – she hardly spoke to him, even when he tried to get her to. He stewed in his anger and resentment, seething at her unfair treatment of him, until the day came when a pridesister appeared looking for Uru – thinking her returned from a journey to another kingdom – and he saw his chance to prove to one and all, including his mate, that he could very well make decisions so much _better_ than she could ever do. He had to _act_, not sit around waiting for her to see the light.

So he went out to meet the rogue lioness that the pride had caught, and he discovered that she was a white lioness. Not only that – a white lioness with _cubs_. He was overjoyed as he slyly convinced this lioness – Theluji, she named herself – to allow her daughters to be Betrothed to his sons. Ahadi knew of Uru's deep hatred for white lions; he knew and made the deal anyway. In his mind, white-born mates for his sons – especially for the future _King_ – would prove that the PrideLands were ready to put aside their differences with the white lions and rejoin the other lion kingdoms. They would see that she had accepted the total wrongness of her unjust persecution of them, and that she bowed her head in shame enough to give her kingdom into the partial keeping of one of their line. A white-born Queen, sharing the throne with her golden son – how perfectly right it made the future!

Yet…

Yet, Uru once more proved to Ahadi how unfit a ruler she was when she came home from her journey. She was all loudness and fury as explained her displeasure with his actions; she explained it loudly and painfully and by the time she had finished, Ahadi had learned that Uru was far more dangerous than she'd appeared to him before. She almost killed him before she stopped herself, and the look in her eyes sent shards of ice down his spine. He cringed away from his mate's wrath, attempting to placate her with wheedling words and pathetic excuses – even while he secretly hoped to manipulate her into doing what he wanted. But while she finally allowed herself to be swayed into looking over Theluji's cubs for suitability, she made it clear that he had best never cross her edicts again. _Ever_. Her word was the _last_ on any subject – not his – and he had best keep that in mind. He had no power and no authority to countermand her on any subject. None.

Scoring a minor victory over her with his manipulation filled Ahadi with no glee this time. No, he was angry, angrier than he had ever been before. Uru adamantly _refused_ to give ground to him, and she pushed him away all the time. He was her _mate_. He was her _King_. Why could she not see that? It was not like he did not know what he was doing! He had been trained to be a King, had he not? He knew how to run a kingdom, and he apparently knew better than she herself did. Look at the mess she made of everything she touched! No other kingdoms would talk to her. No lions liked her. Everyone here liked _him_! Had not he settled so elegantly the problems between kudu and hippo? He had! Ahadi felt that it was pure jealousy that drove her anger towards him – she was jealous of the fact he was her better in every way. He _knew_ that was what it was. She hated that he was _better_. It was why she didn't like him, perhaps why she didn't love him. The Queen was just like his first wife – the one Uru didn't even know about: always trying to make herself look better at his expense. Saliti had been a lying little minx who backstabbed him when he allowed himself 'weaker' emotions like love or kindness, and Uru was no better. All females were that way, just as his father had tried to warn him of so many years ago. He'd had a brief moment when he'd thought maybe everything could be different, back when he'd first come to this land, but it quickly became clear that nothing had changed, really. Uru was a female, and females were inherently incapable of having any compassion or remorse or such; he doubted they had hearts at all.

And he also knew he as going to ignore her warnings and edicts and whatever other such nonsense she spouted. He was right, she was wrong. On everything. But most especially on the issue of their sons. So when Uru told him gruffly that he would be the one to train their sons to be Kings (as she had better things to do, apparently), Ahadi jumped at the chance. She was such a fool to allow him this opportunity, and while part of him was suspicious of why she would do such a thing – and he quashed the other, smaller part that desperately wanted it to be indicative of something _more_ – the rest of him rubbed its paws together in anticipation. She had sealed her own fate with her decision, and given Ahadi the power he wished to select which child would _really_ be King. It was his hour of glory!

Once the lessons began, Ahadi deliberately left Taka behind when he took Mufasa out to teach him to take his future place, making Theluji watch over the darker cub so that no one would suspect what he was doing. Theluji did not like his deception, but she obeyed – she owed Ahadi her life and those of her three cubs. Ahadi saw that as just another mark in his favor: all things he did provided wonderful returns and dividends. He had saved Theluji, set the kingdom on the right track at last, and bought off a desperately needed ally… all in one move. He knew all the right moves; his father had taught him well in that regard.

But then Taka began to make trouble, always wanting to come along, and whining when he couldn't. Teach the brat? Give him the same lessons, so… what? He could pretend to be as good as Mufasa? So he could try to sneak in and steal the throne from under his brother? Bah! Ahadi wouldn't allow that. Taka was told never to ask again, or there would be… consequences. The child needed to know his _place_, and with Uru mostly out of the picture, Ahadi felt no qualms about teaching him exactly what that was. So when the whining came again, Ahadi gave to him what he deserved. He wouldn't listen to warnings. He wouldn't – and so Ahadi punished him. He took the boy aside, away from the eyes of everyone, and taught Taka in the only way he felt his son deserved.

The first blow was the hardest, but it was easier thereafter.

Taka quickly learned to stop asking to come along with his father and brother; he quickly learned to keep his mouth _shut_ about anything and everything (especially about anything Ahadi did or said to him). He was too worthless to be allowed to _speak_ – trash had no business saying a single solitary words to its betters. Not a word. And if it ever forgot, Ahadi smacked it around until it remembered. He swore to it that if it ever told anyone about what went on between the two of them, he would kill both the boy and any friend he ever made, anyone who had ever even _looked_ at him. It worked, of course – children were so stupid that way. Taka feared him, and failed to see that one word of events to his mother would have stopped any of it. Uru only helped that by being so absent all the time. She was less a 'mother' than she was some nebulous authority figure who sometimes interacted with the Princes. Soon, Ahadi didn't have to say or do anything at all to Taka – a look from his father would suffice to put a stop to anything he was doing, or even thinking of doing. Ahadi smiled at this, when he sat and thought about it. If all went as he planned, Taka would _never_ be fit to be anything except an Outcast – a terrible problem declawed. He would never have the _will_ to act against his brother or anyone else; the future of Mufasa's rule would be secure, the King safe from his brother's machinations.

And everyone would have Ahadi to thank for that.


	3. Chapter 3: Your Heart Is On Its Own

The earliest days of Taka's life were the best – his memories were filled with wrestling with his brother and the other cubs of the pride, of his mother and father watching over them, of sleeping beside warm bodies at night, of laughter and days of happiness that never seemed to end. He enjoyed his place in the world, and – like all children – felt it would never end.

When Uru came to him and his brother and told them it was time to start learning of their future roles in the kingdom and that their father would be their guide, Taka was as excited as he was for anything else; both boys were. They could not sleep much that night for wondering what would come the next day, and were ready and waiting as their father finally rose, long after their mother and her Majordomo had already risen. Ahadi looked pleased and was all smiles as he led his sons down Pride Rock and a short distance away, among the hillocks and grasses of the surrounding lands. There, he paused, and bid them wait. The brothers couldn't help but fidget, wondering if this was some sort of test they had to pass, but it seemed they were only waiting for Theluji, the white lioness, for as soon as she appeared, her three cubs in tow, their father rose to meet her. The two adults conversed in quiet tones, glancing back at the Princes, and it was clear from facial expressions that there was some disagreement about matters. Theluji did not look happy, and kept shaking her head, and finally Ahadi raised his voice enough for the cubs to catch his snarled, "You will do it if you know what's good for you and your son."

Then his voice lowered again, mouth close to the white lioness's ear, and whatever he said must have made an impression, because she lowered her eyes and nodded – one short, sharp jerk of her head – and then looked away. Ahadi's smile at her submission was unpleasant, but Taka could not have said why, just that it felt wrong and made his heart thump faster. Then Ahadi beckoned to him and he approached his father on legs that trembled. His face stern and voice as hard as stone, Ahadi told Taka that he would spend the day with Theluji and her brood, and that he was not to disobey her or wander off. This was his "lesson" for the day, and if he disobeyed or was spotted by anyone else in the land, he would have "failed" for the day. "And you don't want that, now do you?" Ahadi said, an ugly sneering expression his face.

Taka emphatically did not, but when he asked if Mufasa would be staying, too, and was told he was not, he wanted to know why he could not come with them. His father scowled deeply, and told him not to question the way things went – his place was to _obey_, and that was all. He was the _second_ Prince, and so his lot in life would be different from his elder brother's. Taka lowered his eyes, and said nothing as his father turned away. With that, Ahadi left with Mufasa, his whole demeanor changing as he did, all smiles and laughter and such, making Taka feel a pang of pain and hurt at the sight. Theluji drew his attention away from his family and back to the others his age, nudging him to follow them off into the hills. His disappointment faded as the day wore on, and he soon forgot the incident in the midst of all the childhood games there were to play. It was not unlike all the times before, except that there was no Mufasa to share it with them. His absence was the only dark spot on an otherwise bright day.

When Ahadi and his brother returned around sunset, Taka rushed out to greet them, and walked home with the pair, bouncing around at their heels, wanting to know what they had done during the day, but when Mufasa started to tell him, their father moved to put himself between them, and turned his cold green gaze on the younger boy. Taka deflated under that look, but then Ahadi pulled him close and said to him, "Don't worry about what we did today. You have your own role to play, my son – something different from Mufasa's."

Taka perked up at that. "What?" The prospect of having something unique to do was thrilling. He would be just like his brother, but different. They would each have something new to do that was their very own.

Ahadi leaned closer, looking around as if it was to be a secret. "When we get home, your mother may ask you what you did during the day. Mufasa will speak first, and tell her of his day. _You_ will agree with anything he says. Follow his lead. If he says he saw a hippo, you tell her it was the biggest and meanest you ever saw, or that you saw it first. If he climbed a tree, you climbed higher. It is a little... game... you see. Your job is to try and top whatever he says, do you understand?"

"But… why?"

"Because it will make your mother happy for you – that you had such fun and are so excited." Ahadi straightened up, and moved back over to Mufasa's side.

But as they began to near Pride Rock, Taka thought of something else. "I didn't go with you, though. Why should I tell Mom I did?"

"It's part of your special job." His father winked at him, and Taka felt elated. "I can count on you for that, can't I?" Ahadi put on an over-the-top face of disappointment at the possibility, and Taka quickly rushed to agree that he could be counted on. "Good. Perfect." The lion then turned to Mufasa. "Your job is to relate all you learned, and not to argue with Taka. Let him embellish everything, do you understand?" Mufasa nodded. "Wonderful!" He knelt down and looked at each of his boys in turn. "She may not even ask you tonight. It may be a surprise when she does – so be ready."

His conspiratorial air drew them in, made them eager to please. This would be fun, and they would each work to make him proud, to prove they were reliable. Taka was ready at Mufasa's side when their mother came home, but she only greeted them as warmly as ever and moved on. The two boys felt a mild disappointment, but their father _had_ said she might not ask tonight. They'd just have to be patient until she did.

The days passed on in a similar fashion, with Taka spending his days with Theluji and the other cubs, and Mufasa going off to wherever with Ahadi. Occasionally, the white lioness allowed them all to play with the other cubs of the pride under her watchful eyes, but those days were a rare treat. Days turned to weeks, and still the expected questioning by their mother never came. Mufasa grew more arrogant and pompous, and Taka began to grow increasingly frustrated – how was he supposed to play his part when it never ever came? His father was trusting him, though, so he tried to stay patient. Surely this was all a test, and he wanted badly to pass it.

Near the end of the third week, the daily pattern at last broke, but not in the expected way.

Ahadi brought Mufasa to Theluji and the cubs she watched over near midday. He seemed antsy, on edge, and he called Taka to him as soon as he was in range. "Mufasa has been asking to come play with you again, and today I think would be a good one for a break. He has done well, as have you, so I want you to go play with all the other cubs and have fun." Taka and Mufasa perked right up and cheered as they turned to run off, but Ahadi placed a large paw on Mufasa's tail to hold him still. "But you must give me your word not to leave sight of Pride Rock. Even if everyone else does, you do not."

Mufasa nodded his head hurriedly, before his father could change his mind. "I promise. I promise I won't go any farther than that! I do!" He and Taka shot off as fast as they could to find the others, Theluji's cubs at their heels, barely catching the voice of their father telling Theulji to walk with him for a bit.

When they all returned home near the late afternoon, Ahadi was not around, but Theluji was. She called her cubs and the two Princes to her side, and then led them around the back of Pride Rock. She seemed upset, but said nothing to them, just had them all join her in a cave tucked away amongst the higher ground of Pride Rock's base. They stayed there as the day wore on, and dusk fell. They were fidgety by this point, and when their father appeared in the entranceway, they stumbled over each other to get to him. He ignored the both of them to walk to where Theluji lay, where he said quietly, "They found her." Theluji looked up at him, but the expression on his face cut off whatever she was going to say, as if she had seen her answer there. Ahadi continued on, his words clipped and flat, and something about his tone felt so off and ugly that both Princes slunk over to crowd close to the other three cubs. "Everyone knows I was with you today, and the children were off playing. We were seen together by several of the pride on our walk. Your silence is the only thing that will save you – else they might get the idea you were in on it. And that would be quite bad for you, wouldn't it? To have people think you saw a chance to… get _revenge_ for the Flame." He leaned in close to her. "You stay quiet for me, I say nothing of you. That is the deal." Then he left, a sharp command bringing his cubs to his heels, and as the three left the cave, Taka glanced back to see Theluji pulling her cubs close to her, tears all over her face. Mufasa's face showed he had seen it, too, but neither understood what was going on. They shared a look, then concentrated on following their father home.

That night was a bad one.

Their mother's Majordomo had died in a landslide in the western mountains, and the Queen refused to leave the site where her body lay buried under tons of rubble. The pride was in mourning, and their cries and wails echoed through the night, keeping the boys awake as they sniffled through their own grief. Their mother did not return that night, nor the next day, nor the day after. The pride whispered that they thought she might die from her broken heart, for she refused even the food they brought her. She did not return at all for a long time, and when she did, she moved as if she saw nothing around her, not the pride, not the den, not her mate, not her sons. Listless, lifeless, and lost – that was to become the new normal for Queen Uru.

Ahadi soon started taking out Mufasa for lessons once more, and this time he did not even bother telling Taka anything at all about 'his roles'. His manner was decidedly nasty and condescending, but Taka found the strength of will to begin asking to accompany them. His mother was likely _never_ to ask him about the lessons now, so why should he still have to follow those same rules? His "job" had just been removed, and if he couldn't do _that_ then he wanted to go where Mufasa did at the very least. Playtime was all well and good, but he wanted more; he wanted the same as his brother. Ahadi did not listen to his asking to come, ignored his pleas, and so he started doing what he had seen the other cubs do to their mothers – whine annoyingly. It always worked for them, as eventually their mothers got tired of it and gave in, so why should it not help Taka's cause the same way? His father finally snarled at him, warning him not to ask again or there would be… _consequences_… but Taka paid that no heed, just as those he emulated never did.

He soon wished he had.

The hurt in his heart was worse than the pain Ahadi inflicted on him physically. He was not wanted, he was not needed, he was just in the way – a pathetic runt who should never have been born. His father hated him, and that was clear from every blow and every insult that came from him. Taka cowered away from Ahadi, flinching every time the lion came near. He learned to stay out of sight, to not speak unless spoken to, and to never, _ever_ whine again.

The years were not kind, and Ahadi's behavior only worsened as it passed. No one knew what his father did to him, and he could not tell them – his father had made clear what would happen if he did. Bruises did not show with a pelt over them, and so no one would even suspect. Theluji, though – she seemed to suspect. She never said as much, but her demeanor towards him changed since the day his father first struck him, and she gave him what love and consideration she could. She treated him like her own, and tried to provide salve to his wounded soul. He often spent his nights snuggled up next to her, his tears wetting her fur. She sang to him sometimes, on the worst nights, when his body ached and the nightmares were heavy on him, and he always felt calmed by them. He loved Theluji, loved her like the mother Uru never really had been, and had ceased to even possibly be so long ago.

Occasionally, the white lioness told him he should seek out his mother – find her wherever she was these days and tell her all how Ahadi treated him. He refused, too scared of his father to do so, and begged her to go instead. She would not. "I cannot fight your battles for you, my little one. If you do not find your own strength for this, you never will find it. Uru would not hear my words anyway, not as she is now – but for you… for you she may. It has to be you, my dear. And I promise, she will not be angry with you." But he did not believe her. He couldn't. His mother had not cared what went on during all this time, so why would she start now? On this, he felt Theluji was wrong; his mother would do nothing, even if he told her.

When Taka was a budding adolescent, his mane tuft now spread thickly across his skull, Theluji was lost to him. She took ill from a bad bit of meat, and died alongside several others of the pride. He was inconsolable, and without her there to ease the hurt from his father, he was not sure he could even survive the loss. Surely now his father's wrath would be limitless, and he could not take that. Not anymore.

The bodies were barely cooled before Taka ran, off into the open plains of the kingdom, determined to leave it all behind. He might not know how to survive out there on his own, but it had to be better than knowing he could not survive another day _here_. He moved as quickly as he could, avoiding anyone who might see him, and was near the western border, picking his way up the steadily steeper foothills of the mountains when he spotted a patch of red off to his left. It stood out so starkly against the green grass that curiosity bade him move in for a closer look. The red blot slowly resolved into something familiar, but entirely unexpected: his mother.

Uru lay on her side, and at first he though her dead, so still was she, but he saw her shallow breathing and knew it was only slept. Uneasy sleep it appeared, from the faint twitching of her skin. Watching her, he bit his lip. Theluji had always tried to make him find and talk to Uru, but he never had. Now, though, she was here, and so was he – and what did he really have to lose at this point? If she wouldn't listen or do anything, he'd be no worse off than he already was, right? He found himself approaching her, and reaching out a shaky paw to tap at her. She blearily opened one eye to look at him, and he almost ran off despite his wavering resolve. What if she was just as bad as Ahadi? He had no considered that possibility. What if she struck out at him, too?

He backed off as she sat up, blinking slowly. "Taka?" Her voice was raspy, as if damaged from long disuse. She focused on him, then looked around, as if seeing it all for the first time. "Are you out here alone?"

She didn't sound angry, just confused, so he dared hope. He kept out of reach, and with a deep breath, opened his mouth and told her all. Everything – every touch from Ahadi, every insult, all of it. Her expression grew darker as he spoke, and his last words were rushed, tripping over themselves as he scrambled to back even further away from her. His rear legs felt like limp marsh grass and as she came up onto her feet like a raging tidal wave, he fell over on his back and cried for mercy, that he was sorry, that he'd go away and not come back. When she touched him, though, it was not in anger, it was not with pain, and was as soft as anything Theluji had ever given him. He dared uncover his face, and while her look was still bloodthirsty, he knew now Theluji had been right, all along: her rage was not for him…

It was for his _father_.


	4. Chapter 4: Even Those Who Are Gone

Taka did not see the terrible battle between his parents – he only knew what it led to. He thought about leaving while she was otherwise engaged, about continuing on with his plan, but part of him held back, wanting to see what would come of her rage-filled departure from his side. He shivered alone on the hillside, constantly wavering between flight and staying where he was, but he went no closer to Pride Rock. If she wanted him… if she _wanted_ him… she would have to return for him. He would not follow. He could not trust her that far.

Uru did come back to him later on in the night, sniffing a trickle of blood from her nose, and licking it from a split lip, and when she was close enough for him to hear her, told him that from now on, he would accompany her everywhere. He was hesitant about that idea, especially in the face of all his father had done to him and the violence she exuded from every hair follicle this night, but seeing his wariness, she gentled as best she could. "I know I was never there for you, and I should have been. It was my job to keep you safe, and I failed at that."

Her words hurt him, even as they gave him the flicker of hope. "Why?" Speaking felt as if he were ripping chunks from his very soul. An ugly, aching need so long unfulfilled. "_Why_ were you never there? Why didn't you ever _care_?"

Uru refused to look away, to break eye contact. This was her son, her child; perhaps the only one she had left. Mega was… gone. Dead or alive was only a minor distinction. Mufasa was out of her reach, wholly Ahadi's now. There was only Taka. "I did care. But any explanation for my absence would just be an excuse, and there is none for what I have done. Or rather, _not_ done." She met his eyes unflinchingly. "But I am here for you _now_, and for always."

Taka stared at her, his father's eyes in a face so like her own, and she could see he wanted to believe. Trust, though, would have to be earned; she did not expect it – nor deserve it – so soon. "Is… is he dead?" She knew what he was asking without clarification. The idea both was dearly wanted and deeply dreaded, all at the same time, and she could see it written all over his face.

"No."

He backed away from her, expression turning pained and angry. Bitter. "Why not? After what he did? Why _not_?" Did she consider Ahadi worth more than himself? That he lied about what he'd done? Was that why the monster who had haunted him for years still breathed?

She could read much of what he was thinking from his body language. "If it were at all possible, he would be a corpse already. But it isn't."

"_Why_?"

His need was a vast and empty chasm, with no way to fill it, even though she wanted to be able to. It cost her more than she liked to think to speak her next words, more than she ever thought it could have, to admit what she did. "I have grown _old_." Loss and shame filled her. She had let time pass her by, in her mourning. She had grieved so over the loss of one she had loved that she had lost _years_, lost youth, lost strength. Lost almost everything she had once owned. "I _cannot_ beat him, no matter how much I want to. I cannot _win_." It _hurt_ – Spirit above did it hurt – to put it to words. "I _tried_... but I _couldn't win_."

Taka's face filled with sorrow, and he half turned away, tears dribbling down his cheeks. "Then nothing will change, will it?"

He did not fight to get away or flinch when she reach out to wipe at the wet on his face, the action echoing a memory from long ago, with another young boy who desperately needed comfort. His utter despair stabbed at her, and she didn't realize that she too shed tears until Taka's paws touched at them the same way, even if the motion was more hesitant than hers. As if he expected a blow for touching her. She stroked his face, her voice strained and filled with shame and regret and love and pain all intertwined. "He will _never_ hurt you again, Taka. As long as I live, I promise you that. Even if I have to _die_ to assure it – even if I have to give up life myself to see him just as dead – he will not touch you again. You have my word. He will _not_."

Taka watched her face for a long moment, with eyes far too old for his years. "And when you're gone?"

Hopelessness still reigned supreme on him, and she felt a surge of anger, at herself and her Consort. But the time for anger had to be past. Anger and rage could do no one any good any longer. Her days of fighting the world head-on had ended, and what good she still could yet do would have to come from the same means as Ahadi's had – through stealth and through subtly. Ahadi had won this round, but that did not mean he had won everything. Not yet. She had to believe it was not too late to fix the mess she had made of her family, and of the future.

So in response to his question, the aging Queen bade him look up. He frowned, but – partly in desire for an answer, partly in curiosity, all of it tinged with bitterness and anger – the young Prince did and saw spread across the heavens the millions of stars that made up the nighttime sky. As he looked at those bright and twinkling orbs so high above his head, Uru began to speak, telling him the legend of the stars: "Each of those stars, every one, was once a living breathing animal. When our time on this earth is done, the Great Spirit judges our souls, and if we have done something truly worthy in our lives, we are given one of those stars, to watch over and guide those we must leave behind." The Queen paused to look down at him and meet his eyes. Eyes that did not yet understand the relevance of what she said. "Remember this, Taka, and you will never feel alone again. Even someday when I too am gone, I will still be there for you – watching you from among the stars." Her face was serious, like stone, as she put a paw on his lips to prevent the question she saw forming there. "No, those stars cannot protect you – no one who leaves this world can – but as long as you remember all we give to you, and know that no matter what happens, we will always be there, you will find your own strength. Your own inner fire." A softer expression touched her face and as she continued speaking, the resolve in her voice raised his spirits some, to know such resolve was for him. "I will teach you, my son. I will show you how to survive, how to fight back. I will give to you all of my knowledge, and all of my experience, and when the day does come that I can no longer be beside you, you will not be defenseless. You will be prepared for whatever comes your way. You will be able to stop Ahadi yourself. And through it all, I will be there to watch over you. From wherever I end up – star or not." She looked back up, gaze locking on one star in particular. The largest one of all. "Nothing loved ever really dies," she whispered, then met his gaze again. "And I will never be 'gone'."

The young lion looked up at the heavens above in awe, thinking on her words. For so long, he had been alone. He had had friends, he had had Theluji, he had had her children… but they weren't quite the same as wanting his own real family. He had come to hate his father and his brother and Uru for their treatment of him, for their abandonment and neglect and abuse – so much of him was in pain and saddened by what fate had dealt him in life. But here was Uru, his mother, trying to say she did love him. He was already jaded enough to be wary of her overtures, but also still enough of a child at heart to want to believe, to be willing to take a chance – and her kind words touched a deep ache within him, made him... want to think it all could change. Or even just to change in part.

After awhile, he turned his head to regard his mother. She was still looking up at the sky, a strange expression playing over her face – a mixture of tired sadness and longing, but also of peace and happiness. Taka had never seen her look so soft and… _real_. A slight breeze ruffled the greying fur edging her face and muzzle, and he also saw how old she was becoming, how fast her time on earth was dwindling. She did not lie when she said Ahadi did not die for his crimes because she could not kill him. She did not lie about growing old. She did not _lie_, and she had not hit him. No pain, only a softness he had not thought her capable of – that not even Theluji would have thought her capable of. He wasn't sure what the next days would hold, but for now, for this night and this time with his mother, it gave him hope.

A hope that he had not had before.


	5. Chapter 5: In Defense Of Our Dreams

Uru kept Taka with her from that night forward, as she fought to re-establish herself as the ruling power in the land. But even as she joined with the hornbill Zoza to make it her mission to beat "King" Ahadi to every place there was a problem to be fixed - to be first on the scene, to let the kingdom's people know she was back - she knew in the back of her mind it was not going to be enough. Her mistakes had all caught up to her, and she would drown in the lake of them she had made. There was no one to blame but herself, and it pained her grievously that what she had wrought, others would suffer for. Innocents like Taka. Like Mufasa. Her pride and her kingdom. Many looked to Ahadi now, and he had 'saved' them and been there for them when she had not been. To most all in the land, she had abandoned them, but he never had. She could not argue that logic, flawed as it was. She now knew her trust in him had been misplaced, that it had led to the darkest of horrors for those he deemed 'worthless' to himself, but the rest of the kingdom had not yet seen the ugly truth beneath his pleasant exterior. He was rotten within, and she and Taka were of the few who could see it.

So although she had imparted to her youngest son words of comfort and hope that first night together, Uru knew deep down in her soul that Taka would be defenseless once she was not around to stand between him and the world. Her name was yet one to be feared and respected, but time was already eroding that power, and there would come a day when few in the world would think to honor what she wished – and once she was gone, no one would. Taka would pay the price then, no matter what pretty words she managed to dazzle him with before then. He would be Outcast, tossed aside as her uncle had once been… or worse. It was all her fault and no one else's. She had tried the path of kindness and sympathy, but Ahadi had played her through it, had convinced her to leave him be to do as he wished with their sons. She had been a fool. Blind. Taka would pay for that blindness, unless she took steps to counteract her husband, and to do that, they needed allies.

The herds of the lands would not help – they did little to intervene with predator issues no matter what happened, and knew they could just leave if things went against them too hard. Many of them also held loyalty to Ahadi, because eh gave them what they _wanted_ and not what they _needed_, and such always made people happier than her own brand of fair-but-harsh methods. The herd animals would not side with her, or Taka. Nor would most other animals, for much the same reasons. There were still those of her pride who held utter loyalty to her, but they were made fewer by the ravages of time and age limited strength they could provide, and by the time Taka was of an age to truly need them, they likely would be as dead as she herself, or on their way there. They would want to help, but their time to do so, like hers, was mostly at end. She could think of only one place, one _species_ who might still offer her loyalty and aid enough to make a difference.

Just one.

Taka was scared when his mother took him with her into the heart of the ShadowLands, the dark and foreboding Elephant Graveyard, home of the great hyena clan. He had heard tales of the place, nightmarish stories about what they did to their enemies, of blood spilled and pain given and lives destroyed. Savagery. Ruthlessness. Bloodlust. He couldn't stop his legs from quaking, his heart from thundering in his thin chest, or voice from making small whimpers. Uru kept in constant physical contact with him, whispering low soothing murmurs to him as they walked. He wanted to believe her when she said hyenas were like any other predator, but what he had heard overrode anything she told him. He was terrified, and when the yellow eyes began to gleam around them, to spark into life like miniature fires and close in, he clung to her legs in absolute terror, breath coming in little gasps and squeaks.

Uru wrapped an arm around her son to give him the illusion of protection and safety, even if should this turn ugly there was little she could really do to shield him against so many. She looked at each face as they became clear, but saw no one she recognized, so she called out, "I seek an audience with Matriarch Lenaba – I offer no harm and come in peace." They acted as if she had not spoken, circling around her with mouths hanging open in gleefully murderous grins, giggling in that high-pitched and disconcerting way they had. She swiveled her head around, trying to keep an eye on them all, even though she knew it was pointless. Anger stirred within her, and she growled low and deep within her throat. "Perhaps a hyena's honor is so little as rumor suggests," she snapped, "To have so quickly forgotten to whom they owe the land they live on and the food they eat, if this be how they show their gratitude."

The hyena faces around her lost their smiles, and became instead filled with rage that held no speck of amusement. Uru could tell from body language that they would attack as soon as they had worked themselves up to it, and braced herself to take as many out as she could. "When it begins, run," she told her son, and he shrank down even further to the ground, close to hyperventilating. A pang of sorrow went through Uru at that, and she cursed her foolishness in thinking the hyena were ally to any lion, even one whom they had been ally to in the past. But before any violence could break out or blood be shed, a voice called out to them all, croaky and raspy, but still enough to make the hyenas around Uru tuck tails under bellies and back away.

"Ingrates! Do you not see the Red Queen standing there? Who told you to act like idiots towards the lions?" Uru picked out the form of Lenaba, the Matriarch she sought, but the familiar form was made alien by how old she had become since last they had met. She was thin, almost cadaverous, and her muzzle coated in snowy white and her mane sparse and dry, paled down as much as her muzzle. She looked ancient, half-dead, but still the hyenas around her showed deference. Her single working eye met Uru's – the other filmed over and dull, as some elders' eyes did – and the look was not quite pleasant. "You must forgive them – they hold great anger for you, and forget their place." She curled a lip in a silent snarl. "I do not blame them, and it is only my desire to hear what would bring you hear that makes me fault them. One should always listen before taking away another's ability to speak; it is hard to laugh at excuses when your target has no throat left to make them."

Uru did not immediately lash out with threatening words, as once she might have. It not only would not work, but would only serve to perhaps end whatever reprieve Lenaba was willing to give, and Uru wanted to hear what had so soured the hyena to her. "I know nothing of their quarrel with me. I came only to seek the aid of ones I once called my allies."

Lenaba did laugh then, a bark of pure ugliness, head thrown back. "Allies? Oh, I never knew you held such a capacity for humor, Red Queen!" She wiped at an imaginary tear, as if greatly amused enough to have shed one, then the coldness came flooding back into her. "Allies. Such a pleasant word to come from the mouth of one who has been no ally to _u_s. Tell me – are we just toys to you, oh most feared of lions? To be there at your beck and call when you want to use us, and to be ignored and left to molder when you don't?"

"Again, I profess ignorance to the accusations implicit in your tone and words. As far as I am aware, I have given you much that any lion anywhere else would not have, and come to offer yet more, yet am met with hostility and threats of mutilation and death." Uru tried to keep her voice level, to keep things from getting out of hand, but she knew she did not mask her anger completely. This was all still new to her, this acting with rational sanity.

Lenaba yawned, showing off fangs. "Blah, blah. Ignorance? I do not believe it. How could the Red Queen not know of what her people do to mine?" She spat a thick gob at Uru's paws, likely only missing hitting them due to her lack of depth perception. "_That_ it what I think if your 'ignorance'."

Uru clenched her jaws tightly, a new sort of rage heating her veins. Ahadi had done something, ordered something, made a new law about something, and it involved the hyenas. "Tell me, then. List out my crimes for me. Refresh my memory."

For a moment, it looked like Lenaba would not bother, but then she shrugged, as if it mattered little to her whether she wasted a few more minutes before ordering Uru and her son's demises. "Let's see, where to begin?" She ticked off points on the toes of her paw. "You give us this land as our own, to rule as we see fit, yet now you set laws dictating how we may govern ourselves. Now we must act like lions and allow age and time to end a ruler's rule, not fang and claw as is our wont. You promised us we could hunt and drink in your kingdom so long as we obeyed your laws, but now… now we have a law demanding we take only what prey you lions set for us? That we can't hunt what our preferences dictate for the day or week, but what you lions wish to _allow_ us to have? Or maybe the newest rule that now we can't actually hunt at all – but must eat what you lions provide us in scraps? Carrion-dogs, indeed. And technically, now your laws say we may not set foot in the PrideLands unless under guard while we do." Her paw sank back down to the ground. "Tell me again about us being 'allies', Uru. You know how we hyenas _love_ to laugh. Maybe you can be my court jester, since I now have to live as a Queen and not a Matriarch. Come, make me laugh."

The red lioness looked down and away from Lenaba and curled her tail around underneath her body, a gesture she knew meant submission among the hyenas, and one no lion would make to any of them. There were a few stifled gasps in reaction, and she could see even from the small shot of her paws that even Lenaba had not expected any such thing from Uru. "My Matriarch—" More gasps, louder this time. "—I knew not of these laws, and can only profess great sorrow that I did not. They are not my laws, even if they have been issued in my name by throne calling himself my Consort, and it is on that very subject I came to you for. But in light of what you have said, my honor and name are shamed. I do not deserve to call you my 'allies', as you rightly state. I do no deserve even this chance to speak, but _I_ **beg** – yes, I beg - that you let me say my piece. At the end, I give myself to you for your judgment, whatever that may be, but humbly ask that you spare the child. My son bears no part in what is between us, and whatever punishment I warrant, he is innocent of. I ask that you not sully your own honor with his blood – my blood alone should answer to you."

Silence greeted her pause in speech, and Uru let it stretch a bit before deciding it meant Lenaba agreed to give her words an ear. She did not waste any more time, and instead told the hyena leader of what had led to the strife between them, of foolishly allowing grief to cripple her, of allowing herself to fall apart so badly she had not seen – or cared – what went on around her. She spoke of what she hoped to achieve for the future. But most of all, she did not try and shift the root cause of it all to someone or something else. "I am to blame, Matriarch, for the wrongs done you, whether it was done in my ignorance or not, but I ask you to give me time to correct it. I am Queen still, for all that so many have forgotten it. My word still holds supreme over his. I cannot fight him any longer, and do not presume to ask you to, either. We both well know how ill the world views your kind, and for you to act in my stead would be disastrous. So I propose only this: I will do what I can to erode Ahadi's power and his edicts, to thwart him when and where I still can, and when my time is done on this earth, I ask only that you protect my son Taka. Give him shelter from those who would do him harm."

Lenaba growled. "There is no benefit in such for us, and I still remember how well you 'guarded' MY son."

"I mourned Moshi's loss as much as you, and I do not ask you to do this for me for free – if you will help Taka when he needs you, I give my word I will not only reverse the laws Ahadi has set on you, but also give you free rein to live in my lands, as equal members of the kingdom. An offer, I think that has never been given in the history of your species and mine."

The Matriarch paced back and forth, agitated and growling to herself, and her clan watched her every move, saying nothing. Finally, she stopped. "I would speak with my clan, and my heir. My daughter Moto should make such a decision, not I. If we accept your deal, our old ways will be ours again, and I will lead no longer, you understand."

Uru nodded, still keeping her eyes lowered and respectful. "I do." She lifted her head only slightly and said softly, for the hyena's ears alone, "For what it is worth, I will miss you."

Lenaba did not answer at first, and Uru did not think she would, but then she spoke, too: "And that means more to me than all your previous platitudes and offers." Then the hyena was gone, off to meet with her daughter, leaving Uru behind in the ring of hyenas, stroking Taka's back and comforting him as best she was able. Long hours passed, and Taka finally fell to sleep in her arms, spent from all the anxiety. She was drifting off herself when Lenaba finally returned, a much younger and fitter looking female in her wake. The eagerness in the younger female's eyes was upsetting, but Uru knew that the lions' ways were probably just as alien and disheartening to them as the hyena ways were to her. This was how their world worked. Lenaba gestured to grinning female. "My daughter, Moto. She… knows of our history together, and keeps your secrets as ever I did. You will deal with her from now on. We have agreed to accept your terms, as they stand: equal members of your kingdom. As ever, we will obey all reasonable laws your lands make, and will hunt no more than is needed to sate our hungers. We will keep breeding don to safe levels, and will quarrel not with lions or any others. We will show the world we are not what they think, that we can be worthy members of society – let the nightmares and horror stories die here."

Uru smiled, heart lifting, but Lenaba shook her head, cutting off any sense of relief. "But we ask something more in return: that your son stay among us from time to time, that he learn of us by living with us. A lion who understands us. Once, I gave you my son, to learn of the lion world and be as they. It worked, but for the fickleness of you son. Now, it is my wish that you prove your intentions by giving us the same as I gave you. This Taka, huddled at your paws, will learn from us as much as you. If, as you express to us, you have no desire to see an Ahadi-tainted Mufasa on your throne, and Taka is to be your only heir, then we ask this. He will be a ruler, the first ever, to truly understand us, to not judge us unfairly with the usual lion bias. Give us that much." She nodded at Moto. "My child has already selected who shall be his companion. Just as Moshi was shown the way by a lion his age, so shall Taka be by a hyena his own age. In return, if the day comes he needs us to be again the stuff of legend to help him become what he is meant to be, we will be there, the odds against us be damned. We will fight to keep what you grant us."

Moto sent a bark over her shoulder and one of the shadowy hyenas stepped forward, shoving a hyena cub before him. The male was indeed of an age like Taka, not yet adult, but edging into it quickly. Moto patted the boy on the head. "Let me introduce Addae, the son of one of our fiercest females." Addae came forward on stiff legs to nose at Taka, who snapped awake quickly and jerked back, hissing, claws swatting at the hyena's nose.

"Go now, Uru, and fix the mess you left behind. Your son will stay safe in our care, and when you can announce to us your word is fulfilled and we may live amongst you, you can have him back." Lenaba smiled, softly, as Uru dithered, looking pointedly between Moto and Lenaba. "Do not fret – he is not ready for that particular lesson, and so he shall play with Addae as the leadership position changes in the manner it is supposed to. We will not make him watch. He will come to no harm."

Uru nuzzled Taka, and asked for space, so he could be explained to and calmed, and the hyenas backed off, all except Addae, who had been given orders to the contrary; Taka was his responsibility now. Taka did not want to be left alone among the clan, and clung to his mother, but Uru reminded him of her promise to him, that she would not let anything hurt him again. She asked that he trust her. "They will not do anything to you, Taka. They will keep you safe from your father, no matter what." And then she left, and he could only watch her go. But Addae put an arm around his shoulders, and it didn't matter that the other was a hyena – he was just another animal his age offering comfort. Someone he could relate to.

A friend.


	6. Chapter 6: This Is How It Hurts

It was several days – very nearly a week – before Uru was able to take Taka back from the clan and to announce that they were welcome to live in her lands. During that time, the young Prince had mostly overcome his fear of the hyenas, especially because Addae kept him away from the darker and less easy to understand aspects of clan life. He had enjoyed his stint with the other species, and had been impressed with how deeply family ties among them ran. They were close-knit, for all their bickering amongst each other for position. It was a new way to view life, and some of what they did he wished applied to his own pride, like the way that being oldest did not automatically make one 'worthy' of ruling. In a hyena's world, Taka wouldn't be lesser for being younger, although he would be lesser for being male. _That_ aspect he could do without, of course.

So when he finally returned to his mother's side, he was full of bubbly enthusiasm and had lost a lot of his withdrawn and shy hesitancy. Uru smiled at that, and thanked the stars that something had broken through his despairing shell. Oh, it was not _gone_, and would come back once life returned to its normal routine, but it had abated some, and that was to be welcomed. She answered his rapid-fire questions about the clan as best she could, and counseled him to ask the hyenas themselves the next time he visited, for a next time there would be, as she had sworn to Lenaba. Moto might be the one leading the hyenas into the PrideLands behind her, but Lenaba was the one to whom she had given her word, and was the one she felt any real obligation to. Lenaba and she had been as close as their natures had allowed them, and while she would not turn against the clan now that Lenaba had gone, she did not feel for them or Moto what she had for the old Matriarch. Honoring her vows to Lenaba was what mattered to Uru.

From that day forth, the hyenas stayed within the borders of the kingdom, and true to their own promises, they obeyed all the laws therein. They were not liked, were still deeply feared, but they did their best. No lions save Uru and Taka accepted their presence, so they avoided the pride when and where they could. If altercation was to occur between their species, they wanted it to be clear it was not they who would start it. Taka visited with them every month or two, and they came to accept the boy as one of their own. He might be a lion physically, but among them, he was hyena. His place was not of any rank among them, and they made that clear, but they allowed him to join in with minor rituals and celebrations where rank didn't matter. They were gratified that he took their beliefs as deeply as his own, and permitted him glimpses into a world no one else was allowed to see. Secrets he swore were for his eyes alone. Fighting and breeding was all the lion world saw of them, but Taka saw everything else, in all its glory, and it was every bit as rich a culture as his own – and he loved it.

Hyenas, though, were not the only species Uru made him learn about and study. She took him everywhere she went, and bade him examine every creature he came across, to figure out its habits, its beliefs, and its nature. She showed him how each species within the realm lived, teaching him their customs and beliefs, and stressed that he must prove himself to each and every one in order to earn their trust and loyalty. Taka absorbed every lesson like a sponge, drinking in his mother's every word, and filing it away. He could recall perfectly every bit of information she ever imparted to him, so greatly did he wish to please her, to keep her warmth and kindness upon him, to keep at bay the darkness and despair that had so grown within him; to keep her from suddenly shedding her skin and becoming Ahadi underneath. He would do anything to keep her favor, and everything was what he did. And as she trained Taka, Uru also found herself being taught by him. His curiosity and wonder made her see everything in the same light – and it had been a long time since she had felt wonder at anything – and his youth made her feel young again. She ran with him across the hills, chasing their shadows and outpacing gazelles and antelope. They laughed and joked, and tackled each other, even as Uru taught her son to fight and hunt. Play was something she had almost forgotten how to do, but Taka showed her how once again. She had not felt so alive since the days long gone with her oldest son, Mega. Or with her first mate, Kipendo. It was invigorating.

For all the good days, though, there were also a number of bad ones for Taka. He and his mother did still live amongst the pride, as lions are supposed to, but Taka increasingly did not feel like one of them. They all looked down on him for being the 'second' son, and saved their adoration for his elder brother. Mufasa was revered by them as the next ruler, the only one of the pair worthy to take the throne in the future, for he was the only one taught personally by the "_King_". It didn't matter that Ahadi was no King in truth, only a trumped up Consort drunk on his own usurped power – no, the pride saw _him_ as the real monarch of the land, now that Uru had grown so much older and weaker in comparison. Ahadi never failed to sneer Taka's way when he could, rubbing it in that whatever Uru might say to the contrary, there was little she could do to change the fact that only Mufasa was going to receive what they both had been in line for, and he would hear no talk of kingdom-splitting, either.

Looking at his mother, Taka knew time was growing short. For all her spryness and eagerness to keep up with him, she was slowing down, growing more tired, sleeping longer. She was not long for this world, and the chance to change the future was rapidly diminishing. Uru confided to Taka that she had tried over the years to get Mufasa to join them, to come along with them, but he had always refused. She expressed her fears that he was too far into Ahadi's power for her to ever change him, and now… now that he was on the cusp of adulthood, she did not see a way he could be changed. He was too set in his ways – Ahadis' ways – by now.

"I think he is lost to us. To me," she lamented, but she knew she alone was to blame for that.

Hating the despair he saw in her eyes, Taka vowed to sway his brother for her. Surely his anger and resentment came only from the same source as Taka's one had: her neglect. Mufasa would not trust Uru any more than Taka once had, but they were siblings, were they not? Had they not shared a common bond once upon a time? Years and their father had come between them, but surely Mufasa would still see them as what they once had been – brothers and friends. He would listen to Taka, if only Taka could catch him alone.

Taka could not know that his brother was just as much against him as he was against Uru. He could not know that the same jealousy that had so infected Taka's heart had corrupted Mufasa's as well, but for the opposite of reasons. Mufasa had felt envy for Taka's life, from the early days when Taka played all day with the other cubs. Taka had been allowed a carefree existence, been allowed to frolic and laugh and nap and everything else, while Mufasa had had to follow their father everywhere and listen to endless boring laws and sundry other pieces of knowledge 'necessary to ruling the kingdom'. Taka had had a _cubhood_, an actual cubhood, and had only whined about it. Oh, their father had given Taka a right talking to – which unbeknownst to him also included much more than just _talking_ - and it had stopped, but still Taka's mewling little pleas had stuck in his memory. The little brat had had _everything_ and was _free_ and all he wanted was to have what Mufasa had. Spoiled and selfish little rat! How Mufasa wished Ahadi had taken Taka along and subjected him to the same boring torment as Mufasa… his brother _deserved_ that sort of punishment, for whining about _more_ when he already had _all_. That was one of the few things that he knew for sure in his bleak and boring world: he was jealous of Taka… so jealous.

That feeling had only solidified as years had passed by, and even the revelation – via a battle between his parents the sight of which would bother him for years to come – that Taka was supposed to have had an equal stake in being King could not shake his jealousy. No, that only made it worse. Taka had had all those years of not doing much of anything, or playing and gaming and having fun, and _now_ he also got to have a chance to be what Mufasa was? The heir to the kingdom? That was unfair, and it made him angrier than anything else in his life up to that point. Taka was truly the more blessed of the brothers, truly he was. And when Mufasa began to see Taka and Uru going everywhere together – when he even spotted them playing together a few times, the huge lioness showing surprising agility and nimbleness for one so large and so old – his rage became like a living thing in his breast. Yes, his mother had tried to get him to come along with her that first night, the night of the huge fight, but he had refused out of contrariness. She hadn't been there all his life to that point, and sheer stubbornness and pride would not allow him to let her 'have' him so easily. He had wanted her to beg him, to show how sorry she was, to grovel and ask forgiveness, but she had just gone away again. She had tried a few more times, but after that first failure on her part that night, he continued to refuse because of how she had hurt him. Why could she not make him come? Force him to? Show him she cared THAT much to simply steal him away from Ahadi? She never did.

Now… now Uru had stopped asking and Mufasa could see them laughing together at hidden jokes and smiling over shared experiences, could see them leaving in the mornings together and coming back together, and it made him hate them both. They left him out – Ahadi never played with him, never laughed with him, never raced across the savannah with him – but Uru did all that and more with Taka. She cared about _Taka_ more than her eldest, cared about that rat far more than she did Mufasa. He took much ugly satisfaction in his father's continued promises that no one but Mufasa would ever be King – that would show both Taka and his mother that their treatment of him would not pay off in the end, that no matter how they treated him as lesser, he would always be _more_, and one day Taka would have to bend at the knee to _Mufasa_. Mufasa would be King, and Taka never would be, and it would serve him right.

So when Taka approached him one day, asking him to join he and Uru, to share the days with them, he lashed out at his sibling: "You only come to me now because you think you can con me into giving you something you don't deserve. It's clear she wants _you_ to rule when she is gone, but she's not going to get it. I am the eldest, and I am the one our father put all the time an effort into, not you, and I am the only one who will ever be King in the land."

Taka was taken aback at first, but then his own anger came to the surface. The condescension and loathing implicit in every syllable of Mufasa's little speech had been pure Ahadi. Mufasa had learned from their father all right – he had learned to be just as arrogant and bitter and ugly and monstrous as their sire. "If that is what you think of me – _me_ who saved your life once, if you care to recall – than you are not worthy to ever be a King. If I hated you all that much, and only wanted to 'steal' your throne, than I would have just let you fall all those years ago. You would have been dead, and I would be the only one standing here now, and I could have the Crown free and clear. But I didn't let you go, I pulled you up – I _pulled you up_."

Mufasa's snort said clearly what he thought of that. "That was when we were cubs, and you've had years now to regret saving me." He sneered his brother's way. "In fact, father tells me you spend a lot of time among the carrion-dogs, and we all know how _they_ practice inheritance. Maybe you're thinking you'll follow their lead, bump off your sibling and take it all for yourself. Bet you'd go back and change what happened that day if you could, huh?" Taka sputtered angry denials, but Mufasa laughed in his face. "You were always a sniveling little wretch, you're still a sniveling little wretch, and will always be one until the day you die. Father always said I can't turn my back on you – ever – and this little charade here only proves him right. You'd try anything and say anything to get me to let you take a piece of what is _mine_ by rights, and I will tell you right here and now you won't ever damn well get it."

Taka was enraged, but all Mufasa had to do was shove him once, hard, to make him see that a fight between the two of them would end in only one way: with Taka losing. Mufasa was already much bigger than Taka, and whereas Taka clearly took after Ahadi, Mufasa had inherited Uru's stature. Direct battle wouldn't work. It never would, not now and not any time in the future. But Taka _was_ angry, and he couldn't just let it go without some parting shot, and so he said something stupid that he didn't really mean but was calculated by a currently irrational mind to wound as much as possible.

"You know what? You're right. I _should_ have let you fall when we were kids. I wish I had." He kicked sand into Mufasa's face – what there was of it, anyway, on the rocks around them, and then sprang away while Mufasa roared in pain and tried to swipe his vision clear. As he ran for the horizon, back to where his mother probably was still napping, he called over his shoulder with a voice that cut like razor claws, "So you'd better not ever find yourself in that situation again, _brother_ - because next time I won't just let you fall…

"I'll damn well _throw_ you off whatever cliff you're clinging to."


End file.
